The present invention relates to corrugated board containers, and more particularly to pizza style containers formed from a single piece blank.
Pizza style boxes are currently available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Many of the boxes include a square bottom panel, upright sidewalls, and a single lid panel that folds over the entire container. The sidewalls are typically formed as xe2x80x9crolloverxe2x80x9d walls that require a person to fold a first panel around a second panel and then secure the second panel into place.
Current container designs have a number of drawbacks. One disadvantage concerns the time to set up boxes. Many pizza establishments will use hundreds of pizza boxes at a single location during the dinner and evening hours. The boxes are often completely or partially set up ahead of time for use during these rush periods. Setting up a conventional pizza style box, however, takes time and labor, costs that must be accounted for in the price of the pizza. In addition, there is the difficulty encountered in forming and using these boxes, and particularly those with rolled sidewalls. Forming a rolled sidewall box can take more than an acceptable amount of time and can also place an employee at risk for xe2x80x9cCarpal Tunnel Syndromexe2x80x9d or similar disorder due to the wrist motion required to form the rolled walls. Similar drawbacks are found when pizza style boxes are used in other applications, such as holding coiled hose or wire.
Such pizza boxes also suffer from the tendency for the lid to fail to maintain a closed position. When a pizza box lid pops open, the pizza product inside can suffer heat loss, and, depending on the circumstances, the pizza may become inadvertently contaminated. In addition, the closure mechanisms used to engage the lid can interfere with the top of the pie, resulting in a gooey, unappetizing mess.
In accordance with the aspects of the present invention, an improved box corner locking construction for a single piece blank and container is disclosed. The present invention includes a blank or a container including a bottom panel with first and second bottom sidewall panels, front and rear opposing wall panels, and first and second box corner locking constructions. Engagement of the corner locking constructions hingedly controls the relative position of the bottom sidewall panels. The corner locking constructions form first and second angled sidewall panels, which engage the front wall panel to lock the first and second sidewall panels and the front wall panel in an assembled position. A top panel is hingedly configured to cover the bottom panel, thereby closing the container. First and second top panel flaps engage the first and second corner locking constructions to lock the top panel relative to the bottom panel and to further reinforce the front wall panel.